The Sandstorm is a history play written by playwright and Iraq War veteran Sean Huze. It was originally an eleven character play (Los Angeles 2004–2005). It later became a ten character play after revisions for the East Coast debut in Washington, D.C. (2005). The play premiered in Los Angeles, California, in September 2004 for a limited engagement directed by Marlon Hoffman at Gardner Stages, a small 30 seat basement theater in Hollywood, California. It received a "rave," an overwhelmingly positive review, from the Los Angeles Times calling the play "a heart clutching eye witness mosaic," and praised its "shocking force and awesome honesty". [1] Due to first-time playwright and cast member Sean Huze being an active-duty Marine on leave, he returned to his duty station at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and the play's brief run closed in October 2004.
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein, in breach of international law. The conflict continued for much of the next decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces and the post-invasion Iraqi government. An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first three to four years of conflict. The U.S. became re-involved in 2014 at the head of a new coalition; the insurgency and many dimensions of the civil armed conflict continue. The invasion occurred as part of a declared war against international terrorism and its sponsors under the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush following the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Sean Huze is an American actor, screenwriter and playwright.
Huze received an honorable discharge from the United States Marine Corps on March 7, 2005. Ten days later, on March 17, 2005, The Sandstorm: Stories from the Front reopened in Los Angeles under the direction of David Fofi, produced by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (known then as OpTruth), B. Mark Seabrooks, and Elephant Theatre Company, at The Elephant Asylum Theater on Theatre Row Hollywood. Theater critic Terry Morgan for Backstage selecting the play as his "Critic's Pick" in the March 24, 2005 issue of Backstage in addition to writing a rave review in which he states, "This show, in addition to being well-done and undeniably affecting, honors the experiences—good and bad—of our soldiers in Iraq, and, in a time when everything concerning the war has long since been politicized into babble, it deserves to be seen and heard." [2]
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or U.S. Marines, is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations with the United States Navy as well as the Army and Air Force. The U.S. Marine Corps is one of the four armed service branches in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States.
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), is a nonprofit 501c3 veterans organization founded by Paul Rieckhoff, an American writer, social entrepreneur, advocate, activist and veteran of the United States Army and the Iraq War. He served as an Army First Lieutenant and infantry rifle platoon leader in Iraq from 2003 through 2004. Rieckhoff was released from the Army National Guard in 2007.
The Elephant Theatre Company was a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Theatre company in Los Angeles. It has around 50 current members including actors, designers, directors, and stage managers.
The Sandstorm's run in Los Angeles wrapped in July, 2005. The show opened at MetroStages in Alexandria, Virginia, serving the Washington D.C. area a month later in August, 2005. Reviews were generally positive, but The Washington Post 's critic left no ambiguity as to her disdain in her review which ran the same day the Post's arts editor made Sandstorm a "Critics Pick". The Post sent another critic to "re-review" the production and his review was considerably more positive and he recommended it to audiences. [3]
The Washington Post is a major American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., with a particular emphasis on national politics and the federal government. It has the largest circulation in the Washington metropolitan area. Its slogan "Democracy Dies in Darkness" began appearing on its masthead in 2017. Daily broadsheet editions are printed for the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.
